we will be on the streets tomorrow all day long covering the after math of this storm as we will for the next several days. that does it for this edition of 360 tonight, thank you for watching. aaron burn et ou nd sexy malibu .

>> even though the cha i want to welcome our viewers, the wrath of sandy. devastation as far as the eye can see and death toll is

rising. 33 deaths across the country. many are without power tonight and the estimated cost of this storm is you truly stunning. right now, this is a very preliminary estimate, it's going to go higher. it could be as high as $20 billion and that is for lost business and property damage. to give you a sense of the storm's power. we wanted to show you this video. it's a tree being up rooted. these images are a testament of what officials are calling one of the most powerful storms in history. >> make no mistake about it, it was a devastating storm. maybe the worst that we have experienced. the level of devastation at the jersey shore is unthinkable. >> unthinkable and the destruction is not over yet. we want to show you new picture approximate s in tonight from new jersey, the boats tossed into each

other. boats were tossed into the roads. flood waters have turned neighborhoods into islands and for many people the only way out is by boat. rescues of stranded residents is happening on live television and have been happening all day. many are sitting and hoping and waiting. in queens new york, a storm related fire burned through an entire neighborhood destroying 80 homes. as we drove out to the neighborhood to see the destruction, i saw emergency vehicles everywhere and on the way to breezy point queens, we passed a convoy of 19 ambulances. all heading in to help the tight knit community. we have coverage from breezy queens tonight. >> and erin, it looks like a bomb simply hit this place. the entire area, 80 to 100 homes, completely burned down to the foundations. cars completely burned.

this is land rover, this is a honest day. folk -- is a honda. folks thought they would experience power, but it was more than that. once a home caught fire, they are so close to each other, they are side-by-side, firefighters could not get there because the water was so high and the water pressure so low, they could not combat the blazes that were burning. a man that lives here summed it well, he said fighting a fire in a hurricane is a lesson in f futility, to get a scope of the damage, this man was able to pick out homes. he said his sister lives in this one. my dad lives in this one. three sisters live side-by-side. and he was able to see what was gone and missing. those were just the homes that caught fire.

you have others on the bay. some of them completely destroyed. others are sink issing into the sand, there are those where the fronts have completely sheared off. all of that is going to is have to be rebuilt. we did speak to some folks and they said, it's a community and and we will get it done. >> the exterior of the house is destroyed and not only from the fire, but from the surge, the tidal surge that happened here on the exterior. things were thrown around. as we walked around we could see that. it was not just devastation from the fire that was here. it's from the tidal surge >> it's devastating to be here and see this, because it's, it's like a war zone to us. >> now, there are a couple of people who live here year round, there was one firefighter who actually helped, he said, though it sounds more like he rescued 14 people who were here and had to get out, he was able to bring

them to safer ground. he said when the wave hit, he thought he would put on his life vest and float up to higher ground, he heard the people crying for help, he was able to bring them to higher ground as well. erin. >> thank you, very much, and heartwarming story. in hoboken, new jersey where the mayor said that thousands could be trapped in their homes. flood waters have not gone down. parts of the town is still underwater. you can see some of the video. it starts in the beginning of the street and you have some cars that are more submerged than that. and in this picture, that was sent to us by new jersey senator bob menendez, when you look at the scene behind you, that water does not seem to have gone down at all, how bad is it? >> it's really bad, erin,

hoboken is right across the river from new york city. it's not a small city and 50% of it is in the dark and under 4 to 5 feet of water. and worse yet, the mayor said that behind me, there are thousands of people still in the houses and apartments that cannot get out. not only because of the water but because there's live electrical wires in the water and it's not safe for them to be leaving. some are being rescued with a front loader. not a boat, it's going through the watery streets. i went on a ride in the front loader to see what is going on. and the first thing we noticed was how much it felt like katrina. but it was much different in casualties with katrina, but then looking in the windows, and seeing men, women and children waving at us. most of them were smiling.

the reason most of them are smiling is because the water has gone down a bit. the feeling is that it will continue to go down and they will be perhaps to start walking out of their houses tomorrow. it's not guaranteed yet. we saw scores of people waving at us, waiting to get out of their homes. we saw people trying to leave on their own. they seemed confused. a few people were driving through the water and so the cars got stuck and they could not push them. a police officer got out and went to rescue the people. took the woman on his shoulder and brought her to the shovel we were sitting in and the mayor and i helped to pull the woman in and the two other people in, that's the situation. it's incredible. right now, there are people in the dark and cold, waiting to be able to come out of their homes safely. >> it's amazing as you tell it. gary, a question, were some of the people stuck in their homes, did they have any idea that it could happen?

were they given evacuation notices or not? >> what is interesting about the town, there's a portion of the town that floods when there's storm. never anything like this. they were used to it. they were told that perhaps it would be good to evacuate, but most of them stayed and most of them had food and water in case it was bad and as it turns out it was very bad. >> gary tuckman, thank you very much. reporting from hob ooqen, and a couple of miles to the north, the coast guard has been busy rescuing those that are trapped. what did you see today? >> that's right, erin, and we saw communities in shock basically and underwater. sometimes they get low level flooding but they were not expecting anything like this. as we walked around the water was at low tide, cars were floating in the middle of the road. we met up with a family that has

their own military vehicle that they refurbished and heard about it on the news and came down to see if they can help and boy, were they needed. we rode with them house to house, you cannot get there walking. it's boats and large trucks. as we drove around we were picking up elderly people who were stuck in their homes. they thought they could ride it out. they did not expect anything like this. for all the years they lived there. one man had a pacemaker, his wife was concerned. they were scared and shaken, but still had their humor. we topped to get a family, ten people in the house and they said to move on and come back and get them the next round, they wanted to make sure the elderly were getting helped first. this is a tight knit community, people were asking, get in the vehicles and get out.

you are not getting your power tomorrow. they had no cell phones and no power, they were not getting signals, so they were in the dark. they were getting together their things to try to flag down the vehicles to come get them. one man had a one-month old baby he was concerned about. the only thing that helped was the neighbors looking out for each other, directing the officials where to go and would to get. that helped out. >> how many team are still trapped, either the rescuers are aware of them and have not gotten to them or not aware of them because of the communication issues you talked about? >> absolutely. and there were still people. the extraordinary thing is, they were doing it in the middle of the night. we got here about 7:00. all day long. truck after military truck came through with the people. they are not big towns. when you can only fit so many people in a truck. it takes a while to get them out. some people are still there, and some say we will stay again, and see what happens tomorrow, they

did not have water in their house. they had enough supplies. they will go back for them tomorrow. i imagine as of tomorrow, there will be few people left there. probably maybe only in the hundreds. hard to say. >> maggie, thank you very much for your reporting there and for those people we hope still tonight that are trapped. that that ordeal ends very, very soon. and still "outfront," metal dangling a thousand feet above new york city, it has forced evacuations and stopped traffic and sandy's affect on the presidential election. who benefits? i had enough of feeling embarrassed about my skin.

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our second story outfront, sandy devastates staten island. that borough has seen some of the worst damage in new york. six people killed there. two residents died in the cottonville section when two homes completely ripped from their foundations. shelters and hospitals lost power at the height of the storm. michael grim, part of his district in staten island. on the phone from the brooklyn part of that district tonight. good to talk to you, congressman, certainly not under these circumstances, though.

obviously, i know have you been on the ground much of the day visiting your district, talking to residents. how are things? >> people are devastated. obviously, we've had significant loss of life, which, you know, devastates a community. and, of course, the damage is much greater than anyone anticipated. it really is a surreal scene to see very large boats in the middle of your block, in front of your house, cars, displaced and on people's lawns that came in with the waves and homes literally being ripped right out from the foundation. there is nothing. they look like -- they look like lots with debris all over them. again, something would you expect in a movie scene. >> one of the things that shocked us is when a hospital lost power and had to evacuate patients. the richmond medical center, i

know you were there. there were questions about power. they have been running ognjen rater for nearly a day. are they going to be already? >> yes, richmond university medical center. con ed has been unbelievable. wonderful, wonderful people working nonstop, done everything they can to get richmo university back online. i believe it's at least 3/4 of the hospital is back on con edison power, we're still working for i think staten island university across the street, where they do all of the dialysis, waiting to get that back online. that's extremely important. a lot of dialysis patients and in all, four different dialysis centers, there will be a lot of patients that need to have dialysis tonight and tomorrow and that will be pretty much mandatory medically, not something they can elect to wait another day or two, a lot of them waiting two or three days

already. >> in terms of shelters, shelter out where you are has already lost power. is it possible things could get worse than they are? there are still people missing and still people without water and shelters without power. what is the risk from here? >> no question. some people are just unaccounted for and that means they could be at a shelter somewhere and their family is still looking for them. we're looking at that. midland beach, one of the areas hit the hardest, and as of several hours ago they were still doing rescues from midland beach. curtis high school, just at curtis, they do need food, we're trying to get them an electrician to help hook up their generator, because they are in the dark, working off flashlights.

i just picked up food. delivering that to them with about a half an hour, they'll are have some hot food. i'm working the phone, biggest problem? communication. it's one of the reasons i'm in brooklyn right now. the cell phone towers, some of them must have went down, we're having trouble getting people on cell phones and the home foam is not on without power. and we're having big communication issues. >> thank you for taking the time. and i know that experience going out to breezy point, cell phone in and out and intermittent and what you can imagine, the life on city streets when no power, impossible for traffic to move, and traffic becomes snarled and making it difficult for emergency responders to get to neighborhoods in dire need. "outfront" next, the subway becomes a swamp, and parts of the storm blanket areas with snow. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 let's talk about your old 401(k).

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our third story outfront, sandy also spawning a blizzard. high winds offer the storm have the potential to blanket parts of west virginia with as much as three feet of snow.

flood and blizzard warnings also in effect. martin savidge in west virginia. these scenes are hard to imagine, not just part of a hurricane, but that much snow at one time. how much more is expected? >> reporter: you know, it's a very good question, erin. you take a look as we walk. heavy stuff. i'm walking on top of snow. probably a good two feet or so, how much snow, we don't really know? they are forecasting in some areas, two feet, maybe three feet. another nine inches here perhaps. they have extended blizzard warnings for this area, they were to expire at 6:00, now until 6:00 tomorrow evening. snow continuing to come in, wind continuing to blow, snowdrifts continue to build. and the power continues to be a problem. you can see the tree behind me, it's coated. imagine all of the trees absolutely packed and loaded down with the snow.

heavy wet snow, trees coming down, power lines coming down and that's causing the circumstance to be so dire as we head into the nighttime hours in kingwood, they turned the lights back on. but 250,000 without electricity in the state. so far, only one fatality. there's good news. they talk about opening the ski resorts, only bright spot i think. >> once things are better that could have an economic boost. martin, have they accounted for everybody? they weren't expecting anything like this. just like you saw with floodwater, you see with snow. a lot of people haven't been accounted for yet. >> well, and that's one of the reasons, the national guard has been called out in certain areas, to assist local law enforcement. in some cases they are going going door to door, and brought out heavy equipment for the removal of snow. you need earth moving equipment. and so far, they are hoping

people are staying put. as far as trying to account for everybody, they don't have anybody known to be missing or have rescue operations under way it will get worse tonight before it will get better. >> martin savidge, thank you for reporting. up next, a 250,000-pound crane, still tonight dangling 90 stories above midtown manhattan. the question is, can it be brought down safely? we have someone who knows that answer. and floating cars and flooded subways have brought a large part of new york city to a standstill. one of the greatest subway systems in the world and relied upon by millions to make the city function. it's shut down. governor of ge. you know how to dance... with a deadline. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle... and go. you can even take a full-size or above, and still pay the mid-size price.

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welcome back to the second halfful "outfront." we start the second half with stories we are focusing on. we start with the stock market, closed today due to sandy, but it didn't stop ford from coming out with quarterly numbers. the company earned $1.6 billion in the quarter and the bright spot? north america. pretty incredible as a piece of good news. north american was the best as

they started breaking it out as a region in 2000. good news for recovery in the u.s., but not in europe. europe could lose 1.5 billion on that continent this year. and europeans are considering sending troops into mali. they would provide training to mali's army but wouldn't actually fight. this on the heels of secretary of state hillary clinton's visit to algeria. she is trying to get support for believing al qaeda-linked rebels which have taken over the northern part of the country. u.s. military has imaged to trim its budget a little bit. the budget for intelligence

programs in 2012, $53.9 billion. it's the first time the intelligence budget has fall since the attacks of 2001. the 2013 budget is expected to have a drop of 2.3%. and nasa announced that curiosity finished its initial examination of martian soil, and results are similar to volcanic soil found in hawaii. the instrument beamed x-rays of the soil in a process very similar to that that geologists use right here in the u.s. it that has been 453 days since the united states dropped the credit rating. what redoing to get our top credit rating back? the kay schiller in decks showed that home prices found. a 250,000-pound crane dangling above midtown manhattan and threatening to wreak further havoc on a city already under

siege. this is the actual moment. i want to show it to you again when the crane broke loose yesterday. you can see it upright and then just literally bent overbackward, slams into the side of the apartment building that it sits alongside. that's an ultra luxury apartment building in the center of manhattan. 57th street in the center of the island. and tallest residential building under construction in the city. the crane stay thad way for the rest of the day and the night. swaying back and forth, just dangling there. prompting police to evacuate the surrounding buildings, including hotels, offices, and apartments it hasn't stopped crowds from getting a look. alina cho out front on this story. >> reporter: good evening, the $64,000 question is when will that be fixed? tonight, mayor michael bloomberg

did offer a glimmer of hope. he did say that that crane dangling 1,000 feet above the ground behind me, they are hoping they will be able to secure it by tomorrow. now, the plan according to the mayor, somehow try to get a hold of that boom and either tie it or cable it to the building. the problem is, erin, according to one crane expert we spoke to today, is that he believes that this crane may actually be more damaged than we think. meaning that he believes that what he calls the climbing mechanism, may be damaged, and that's the way to get up to the top. if that is the case, his estimation, listen to this. they will actually have to build a second crane in order to fix the one that is damaged. of course, everyone is hoping that that won't have to happen, especially the hundreds of residents and hotel guest who's were evacuated from the seven-block zone. many of them, all of them, in fact, displaced tonight and

erin, in fact, i did receive a text message from one of those residents, matt mazer, displaced a couple of blocks away at a private new york club with his family. he got word he doesn't believe he will be able to get back to his apartment until thursday. that family incredibly concerned, especially since they have a 12-year-old daughter who has a pet parrot inside their apartment and they are really concerned that parrot might not survive. >> alina, so people many people say how can this happen and who is to blame? this isn't the first time that this particular crane has had problems. obviously falling in 60 to 80 or even more mile ab hour winds is a different thing. this crane has had problems. >> that's absolutely right. that's what is so startling to us when we started looking into this story this morning. consider, you mentioned this already.

keep in mind, we're talking about a trophy building. when completed, the tallest building in new york city, 90 floors. top floor apartments going for $90 million. $90 million. cnn learned according to the new york city buildings department, there were actually at least two stop work orders issued on this construction site. one for leaking hydraulic fluid. the other for detective wire rope and an improper runway platform. we should mention, those stop work orders were fully rescinded, but in each case it took about a week for that to happen. >> thank you very much for reporting there on the crane story. frank, the president of maximum crane works, the largest crane company in north america "outfront" tonight. thank you for taking the time. i appreciate it. given what alana is reporting, when do you think this will be resolved. they might have to bring a second crane up to get this down.

when do you think will be resolved. >> hi, erin. thank you for having me. i think the issues will be handled well from the local contractor. all of the issues you just mentioned from a mechanical standpoint have no bearing on this incident. it was purely an act of god. wind speeds in the 60 mile an hour range, probably in excess of 100 up here with the updraft. when you watch the video the video clearly shows it goes over backward. these guys are experts in what they do, and as soon as they can get access to the machine, when the weather calms down a bit, they will have it secured within a few days i believe. >> what i don't understand, everyone knew the storm was coming, they didn't know for sure it would hit new york, right, and i know it takes days, to disassemble a crane like this. if you knew a storm might we coming, shouldn't they have taken it down? getting to the question of liability, have you entire

blocks, people not being able to go to their homes, stores that can't go open, traffic diversion. this crane is causing a lot of problems. >> obviously the storm coming, they did know about it, and what i understand, the city was going through precautions to ensure all cranes were secured by the manufacturer's specifications. to take the crane down from 1,100 feet in the air would be similar to taking the 90th floor of off the building, not something you can do each with a week's notice. the bigger question as an industry, what else can we do to prevent this, even with the high winds? the crane is built to withstand 90-mile-an-hour winds i believe. when we work in coastal areas at times, we do design the lift to be made and withstand up to 140 mile an hour gusts, that may be something that the city take as

a look at down the road. >> let's say it's dangling there and it falls. what happens? >> the good news, nobody is hurt anit hasn't fallen. the bad news, it's still dangling if we take that and say it's safe at this point where it hasn't fallen, that doesn't mean it's secure, but it did fall over backward and withstood the rest of the storm. that's the positive news. now we have to hope that the winds die down and crews can get up to dismantle it at a safe point. we have only seen minor property damage on the crane, and if everything goes as planned, they can get it down without further property damage or injuries. the new york city subway ground to a halt at 7:00 on sunday, but they haven't run since. stranding 5 million people. and starbucks still not open. lots of restaurants not open because people can't get to work.

mayor michael bloomberg said it will be four or five days before service resumes again. downtown manhattan saw some of the worst flooding, including this parking garage where cars literally floating in the water. that's an amazing scene. not one you expect to see in man at hat an. david mattingingly near that parking garage in lower manhattan. you today have been evaluating subways, going in, going out. what do you see? >> reporter: well, what we're seeing is a lot like what you saw in that parking deck. you look around outside, things look pretty dry. cars moving around, almost back tonormal. there are 7 tunnels and they all took on water. you have to dry everything out. this is saltwater. untold damage being done to the

equipment that's been unundulated down there. at this point, no actual date set on when they think that might be repaired, and everything back up and running the way it was before the storm. but there are millions of people who depend on the system and there aren't a lot of good options until the subway gets back up and running. mayor bloomberg was talking about how buses will start running tonight and tomorrow for tomorrow's rush hour, but they will be on a limited schedule. they can't carry everybody, and also about 4,000 taxis still in the city. they hope that number will go up. taxis have been allowed to carry more than one fare at a time. all of the car pooling in the world is not going to take care of the millions of people, again, that depend on subways and these stations like the one behind me, that is dark tonight, everyone wondering when they will be able to get back on the trains. >> david, thank you very much. something that could be the most important thing, everyone, to determine when new york city, the financial capital of the

world is able to be that again. up next, we did get a new cnn poll today, and it shows a very tight race. the question, now when you see two men on the screen, could sandy tip it one way or the other? plus a resident of a barrier island in new jersey, one of the very last to evacuate. parts of his neighborhood now completely underwater. ale annoue exists on the grandest scale... ♪ ...and in the tiniest details. ♪ and sometimes both. nature valley granola thins pack the big taste of granola and dark chocolate into one perfect square, under 100 calories. nature valley granola thins. nature at its most delicious.

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so i brought it to mike at meineke. we gave her car a free road handling check. i like free. free is good. my money. my choice. my meineke. our fifth story "outfront". you may be forgiven if you didn't know there was a new poll of polls, and it shows a dead heat. a national poll and it may come down to state by state. but today, a key romney surrogate. one of the first to come out and endorse him, way before everyone else did. >> the president has been all over this and deserves great credit. yesterday, i was on the phone with him personally three times. gave me his number at the white

house, told me to call him if i needed anything and he absolutely means it, it's been very good working with the president and his administration, coordinating us with great. it's been wonderful. >> so could chris christie's kind words, it's been wonderful, do anything to tip the balance in a tight race? a senior spokesman for hillary clinton's presidential campaign. and we have a write forever the national review and a senior political comist at "newsweek"/the daily beast. thank you to all of you. let me start with you, john. some of the latest polls in the poll of polls, we take the major ones and take the average. that's why there is no margin of error. pew research, 47/47. american research group, 48-48 and all continue along that wane. could a small thing like chris christie coming out with a very serious and significant endorsement of the president's handling of the storm tip the race?

>> listen, erin, a race like this this tight, everything matters. this is a game of inches, a war after television. seeing this in ohio, folks focused heavily on the ground game. highly respected governor like chris christie, being honest, not doing partisan talking points, we're working effectively with the president, that reminds people that president obama is the commander in chief. every little thing matters and chris christie speaking honestly probably helped the president a little bit. >> tomorrow, he will tour the destroyed zones with the governor. he did last year during the storm as well. not as if this is a new thing to do. this is what presidents often do. the timing could be helpful for him. but do you think there is anything political in his choice to do it? >> no, i don't think it's anything political. i think it's completely presidential. what he should be doing in a time of a national crisis like

this hurricane, and, you know, you hear chris christie, mayors, governors, from other affected states, all singing off the same song sheet, the president is doing what he needs to do. i think it speaks a lot to his commander in chiefness, so to speak and it also does one really important thing politically, it takes mitt romney out of conversation. here we are, one week out, and mitt romney is -- is in this very difficult position, trying to figure out how he stays relevant in the 24-hour news cycle without going too far and that's a very tricky place for him to be in. >> ryan, it's a very difficult place for him to be in. you have to applaud someone like chris christie who will come out and the man says what he thinks. he said what he thought at an important moment. >> chris christie, running for re-election in 2013, and new jersey is a state with a lot more democrats than republicans, and it's important he project

he's a bipartisan compromiser and willing to work with a democratic president and not going to shoot the guy down in something as big of a crisis as this. chris christie, very shrewd, telling the truth and he needs to project he's more than a partisan figure. >> that's an interesting point. let me ask you this, though. during the gop primary debate, fema had come up. front and center and appearing to do fine and getting fine reviews, today, is he going to get rid of fema today he avoided that. here it is. >> governor, would you eliminate fema if you were president? >> i'm sorry, let me make it clear. he said states should be responsible for disaster relief. >> to me, this is very tricky, he did not say there should not be a fema. he was asked about whether -- he suggested states and the private sector should generally be

taking on more responsibility from the federal government. his campaign explicitly said on monday, he wouldn't abolish fema. fema takes care of a lot of disasters well below the level of hurricane sandy, including local floods, what have you. if fema could focus on big-ticket events like this one, it's possible it would be able to do its job better and state responsibility for lower level minor disasters that could be handled exclusively by states, that's a legitimate question. mitt romney wouldn't want to abolish fema, and he made that explicitly clear. >> a model interesting for health care. let me ask you this, and i want john to weigh in as well. a lot of key states have been hit by this storm, and also states that aren't hit, early voting going on, and the news cycle has changed somewhat. so when you look at who this may help, the storm, in terms of early voting what is your verdict? >> well, you look at a state like virginia, where several key jurisdictions today announced

they would be extending hours for early absentee voting, that's a good thing. there are many who won't have the chance as a result of the storm to get in early. this is the million dollar question. john said earlier, we're in the game of inches and the early vote, critically important as the number of undecides dwindle this is where the obama -- the obama ground game is really going to prove its mettle, not only by having secured all the votes they put in the bank up until this point, but how they now transition their ground game to deal with this in the affected swing states. >> thank you to all three of you. we appreciate your time. up next, a resident of new jersey's barrier island who got out just in time. he's next. i don't spend money

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sandy hit new jersey hard. new jersey was in the center of the storm, no matter how you look at it, and barrier island of seaside heights were overrun during the surge. our next guest witnessed it first hand. he was one of the last to

evacuate. toms river, he joins us now. and it's flooded there. keith, tell me how evacuations are doing? >> they seem to be going pretty well. the problem, the main highway that brings you over the bridge to seaside heights is flooded. there are boats in the middle of the bridge, so very difficult to get over there. >> a bridge i go over many times. let me ask you your sense now. everything overrun with water? anything survived? houses along the beach are completely gone, ripped off the foundation. what about beyond that? >> right now, some houses completely destroyed down into the water, when i was over there, i was over with the chief of police from seaside heights, tommy boyd, until 4:00 p.m. yesterday, watching the hurricane come in, taking out fronttown pier. we came over about 4:00, one of the last ones to make it across the bridge, at that point, the

water just kept coming up with high tide last night. barnagat bay, and seaside heights, pushed into toms river. so far, people evacuated out of second floor windows. >> oh, my goodness. people still stranded in seaside heights. some made sure they evacuated earlier and were out. but as in so many places, people tried to wait it out. >> you can see in the footage i put up, all of the ambulances lined up, national guard going in. trying to get the people who stayed out. when i left yesterday about 4:00 p.m., the chief was 950% evacuated. i do know there were a few people. a friend of mine did stay over there, and i haven't heard from him yet today. >> on the bay side, lower than the ocean side, any worse? >> oh, yes. on the bay side where live in toms river in a section called silverton. one street away from me, houses have water coming in them.